


Looking to the Sky to Save Me

by TortiTabby



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Anxiety, Fluff, Flying, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 07:13:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15456087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TortiTabby/pseuds/TortiTabby
Summary: Prompt by @quercussp on tumblr!"Dan and Phil are flying somewhere and are stuck on different parts of the plane due to overbooking"





	Looking to the Sky to Save Me

**Author's Note:**

> _Fly along with me_  
>  I can't quite make it alone  
> Try to make this life my own 
> 
>  
> 
> Title from Learn to Fly by the Foo Fighters
> 
> Prompt by @quercussp on tumblr!  
>  _"Dan and Phil are flying somewhere and are stuck on different parts of the plane due to overbooking"_

A baby was screeching in a woman's arm to Dan's left cutting into the audio of the movie he had been trying to watch for the last hour now. It was all in vain, anyway, he supposed. He couldn't focus on the movie when Phil was sitting six rows ahead of him on the opposite side of the aircraft. His shoulders were up to his ears and tense, no doubt experiencing a fair amount of anxiety that he usually got when he was on an airplane.  
Dan knew that the fact they had to sit separate just added to it and although it wasn't necessarily anybody's fault the flight was overbooked and they were split up he felt guilty not being there to distract and comfort Phil.  
It had been a rough past twenty four hours, regardless. It was filled with irritated bickering and Dan felt like he actually could pin that one on himself.  
  
  
  
  
_Phil had stood in the doorway of their bedroom totally furious with Dan._  
_“You seriously waited until the very last minute to pack again? I told you when I was packing my things two nights ago that you should start!” He groaned and ran his hair through his quiff. “Dan it is almost two in the morning and we need to get up at five! How did you forget they were in the wash? We are going to get no sleep at all!”_  
  
_Dan knew if someone asked Phil sincerely what would he change about Dan he would say what the loving partner of nearly a decade is obligated to say- that they wouldn't change a thing but Dan knew. If Phil could change one thing about Dan he would unapologetic without hesitation change his procrastinating last minute packing for trips. It was something Dan whole-heartedly understood and couldn't blame him for._  
  
_“Listen I know you're tired and I'm an idiot.” Dan stood up and ignored the bones in his body popping and groaning loudly in protest. He walked over and cupped Phil's worried face between his hands._  
  
_“Go sleep in the AmazingPhil room. I just have to wait for them to dry now and sort through them then. You're tired and I'm stupid.”_  
_Phil mustered up one last glare before rubbing his cheeks against Dan's warm hands and nodding in defeat._  
_“Try to hurry up. You need sleep too.” He said softly before stalking off._  
_It took another hour and a half before his clothes were dry enough to throw into his suitcase and collapse on their bed. He debated sneaking into bed with Phil but feared the wrath of accidentally waking him up and wasn't sure he would have been able to make it further than the bed he crawled over to anyway._  
  
  
  
  
  
Dan had tried to convince the woman sat next to him to trade with Phil but she was flying alone with her three children. He tried to get Phil's attention to ask the man he was sitting next to but Phil only turned back once when they had first found their seats to offer Dan a small sad smile before turning around.  
Dan saw Phil stand and make his up the isle to the nearest bathroom. Dan quickly set his headphones to the side and jumped up to follow suit.  
By the time Dan staggered down the rows Phil was already inside with the door locked on occupied.  
Dan rapped his knuckles against the door.  
  
“Ah! Uh, this is in use!” Phil's startled voice called out.  
“I know, you spork. It's me let me in.” Dan hissed. He kept an eye out for any disapproving flight attendants as he slipped inside the moment the door cracked open.  
“Dan what are you doing?” Phil whispered.  
He looked less than thrilled by Dan's surprise appearance.  
“I wanted to talk to you.” Dan said in a small voice. Phil just stared at him dumbly until he continued.  
“The woman next to me is here with her kids but maybe the man you're sitting next to wouldn't mind swapping seats with me? It's a long flight. People have got to understand and it looks like he's by himself.” He said this urgently in one breath, well aware of what it looked like if they were found locked away in here together.  
“I don't know Dan, he hasn't said a word to me the whole flight yet. I don't want to bother him.”  
Dan rolled his eyes.  
“I know babe but I hate being that far away from you. I can see how stressed you are from the back of the plane and I just” His voice softened. “I just want to sit by you. Just ask, please?”  
“I don't know.” He said again not meeting Dan's eyes.  
“Philly. Worst case scenario he says no, right?”  
  
Phil frowned but nodded in agreement. Dan swooped in for a quick peck on the lips before ducking back out of the bathroom.  
He wished he could have just been more assertive when they were told about the overbooking by either trying to get better seats or in convincing Phil that it wouldn't have been the end of the world to miss their panel tomorrow morning.  
  
  
  
  
  
_“Just so you are aware the seating arrangement on your flight may have changed. Have a nice day.”_  
_“What why?” Dan had asked the tall woman with even taller hair. Her haughty and stuck up expression made it look as though she was smelling something rotting under her turned up nose. Phil glanced at their tickets._  
_“There are none together? This is an eight hour flight.”_  
_She held up a hand in irritation._  
_“We are experiencing an overbooking issue but we hope that you enjoy the flight.” She looked past them and waved the next people in line over, effectively dismissing them._  
  
_Phil looked more frustrated than Dan had seen him in recent memory as they stepped aside after getting their things._  
_“You know we don't have to take this flight we can wait until the next one if-”_  
_“Dan. Not now okay? I don't want to get there right before the panel we are on again. Do you not remember that?”_  
  
_They almost decided against attending another convention. They missed Florida, though and along with the panel they had together first thing in the morning Dan was also attending one later on about mental health. After a lot of deliberation the pros outweighed the cons but now Dan was wishing they just bagged the idea to begin with._  
_Dan felt heat color his cheeks at being reprimanded but he bit back any retort he had. It wouldn't help at this point and he just wished Phil was less stressed out about all of this._  
_He glanced over at Phil. His face was pinched in a worried frown under his glasses. He really didn't like things not going to plan._  
_“We should get going.” Dan finally said in the softest voice he could muster._  
_Phil just grunted in agreement._  
_They fell into an awkward silence all through security that stayed with them as they sat impatiently waiting to board._  
  
_“Hey talk to me while you can before we have to sit away from each other the whole flight. I know it's not ideal but we might not be that far away from each other. We'll just have to see.” Dan tried to reason._  
_“Would have been nice if we didn't have to sleep separately the night before.” Phil said quietly without meeting Dan's eyes._  
_“Are you mad at me?” Dan hissed incredulously. “Phil I'm sorry things turned out like this today but the booking isn't my fault and you were tired and concerned about how much sleep you were going to get. It's not like I was happy with the arrangement.” Dan could feel the pressure behind his eyes building. He really didn't get enough sleep to deal with all of this today but one of them had to hold it together._  
  
_Phil must have heard the emotion Dan was wrestling to hold back and finally met his eyes._  
_“I'm not mad. I'm not mad at you, I'm sorry.”_  
_Dan reached over and grabbed Phil's hand. He squeezed it lightly in his own and could feel it trembling._  
_“Um... Dan, Phil? Excuse me?”_  
_Phil bolted to his feet, nearly knocking Dan over in the process._  
  
_“Hi.” A young girl, maybe only fourteen stood a few feet away. She was gnawing on her fingernails and keeping her eyes firmly on the dirty airport floor in front of her._  
_“Can I maybe, if you aren't too busy and if it wouldn't be a problem can I get a picture with you two? I have been watching you for years now.”_  
_Dan jumped to his feet next to Phil and put on his best smile and showmanship. He felt like a ring leader in their circus of a life. They made small talk of traveling and thanked her for watching their videos. He snapped the picture and they both gave her a hug before she ran back over to where her family were waiting for her._  
  
_“Do you think she saw? I don't think she saw.” Dan said quietly once she was out of earshot._  
_“Her phone was already in her hand and on camera, Dan.” Phil sighed before taking his seat and facing away from him._  
_Dan turned to Phil and frowned. He was not usually the pessimist of the two. He wished he would have been more persistent about changing their flight. Phil being this stressed out wasn't worth a stupid panel._  
_Before he had time to respond or try to really gauge whether it was worth it or not it was announced that it was time to board._  
  
  
  
  
Dan was making his way back from the bathroom when his eyes fell on the girl they had met before the flight. She was staring right at him before staring behind him where Phil was now exiting the bathroom.  
  
He wanted to tear out his hair. Could this trip get any worse so far? Phil had been concerned already just with the imagined photograph. He wasn't usually as bothered but right now Dan didn't want to think of how his reaction would be. Leaving the bathroom together felt so incriminating.  
Dan finally reached his seat and watched eagerly for Phil to speak to the man in the seat next to him. He had a laptop open and headphones in. His graying hair was under a weathered hat.  
Phil tapped on the stranger's shoulder and quickly started explaining the situation and gesturing wildly. Dan saw him point in his direction and waved awkwardly at the man who's face was crunched up in a sour expression. Uh-Oh.  
He watched as the man pulled his headphone's all the way off and started gesturing aggressively himself, shaking his head the whole time. He made a few more angry gestures before slamming his headphones back onto his head and turning his whole body towards the window away from Phil, still shaking his head.  
There goes that idea. Dan felt awful for pushing Phil to ask. He was really making quite the mess of things lately.  
Phil glanced at Dan, his face a deep color of red. They locked eyes for only a second before Phil tucked himself in his seat, clearly being careful not to be too close to the apparent asshole sitting next to him.  
  
Great. Dan was doing a wonderful job of finding new and unique ways of making Phil mad at him. Maybe Phil would feel less tense now that he most likely didn't really want to be sat that close to Dan at the moment.  
After another hour or so had passed Phil seemed to be fairly into the movie he put on and wasn't as rigid as he seemed to be before so Dan pushed past the second hand embarrassment and guilt and relaxed himself enough to finally doze off for a little while and catch up on the sleep he missed out on the night before.  
  
  
He woke up to being jostled around in his seat.  
“Please fasten your seat belts and remain seated we are currently experiencing some severe turbulence.”  
His groggy eyes flew to where Phil was being thrown around. His fingers were clutching the back of the seat in front of him.  
  
Turbulence was nothing new to either of them but the longer the plane was tossed violently around in the skies the more panicked Dan felt. Phil was a good thirty feet in front of him also panicking and there was nothing either of them could do about it. Dan was unnerved and tired from lack of sleep and beginning to get in his head on the whole panel of what to say about depression and doubting whether this was all just one horrible idea to agree to. He wanted nothing more in that moment to let out a wail and cry with the upset infant in arms of the woman next to him.  
  
After another good thirty minutes of feeling like microwavable popcorn the plane leveled out and all of the passengers seemed to let out a sigh of relief in unison.  
The baby next to Dan continued to scream for the remaining hour of the flight, making it feel triple the length of time that it already was.  
  
Finally, just as Dan was sure it would never arrive the time to fasten their seat belts and prepare for landing came.  
Dan couldn't stop bouncing his leg in anticipation. The fact that he had to wait for all the people in front of him to get off of the plane before he could go to Phil after all of that felt like a sick joke.  
  
The met up as soon as they exited the plane and walked quietly outside and waited quietly for the uber Phil had waiting for them.  
As soon as both car doors were shut and directions were given Phil laid his head on Dan's chest and exhaled heavily.  
  
Dan just held onto Phil and ignored the quiet sniffing he could hear. He rubbed his back gently with one hand and used an app to order pizza on his phone with the other. It was his turn to be strong, just as he knew when he was overthinking the panel he was doing by himself later on it would be Phil's to sooth him. Some days were just bad. Plain and simple. Tonight had pizza and a shared bed in store for them and tomorrow had a whole day of not being separated by 6 rows of strangers.  
As for the when they returned home Dan didn't care if they had to swim they were going to be next to each other, dammit.


End file.
